LOGINJohn and Ezra drove their shovels into the earth, metal biting into soil as they followed the spot marked on the map. The forest pressed in around them, branches creaking, leaves hissing overhead. The trees swayed hard, as if a wind moved only through them, not the air. It felt wrong, like the ground didn’t want to be touched but they kept digging. Sweat ran down John’s neck, his grip tightening, while Ezra’s breaths came slow and measured as he shoved another heap of dirt aside. Then both of them froze.John’s shovel hit something softer than stone.He stilled, lifting his head, eyes locking with Ezra’s. “You feel that too, don’t you?” he asked quietly, voice tight.Ezra gave a short nod, stepping closer, his fingers flexing around the handle of his shovel. “Yeah… something’s there,” he murmured, lowering his voice as if the ground itself could hear.They slowed down, careful now. Each movement was controlled and deliberate. John scraped away the dirt with the edge of his shovel whil
Nearly an hour later, Evelyn’s phone vibrated in her bag.She grabbed it instantly.“Paulo?” she answered, already on her feet.“I found something,” Paulo said on the other end, his voice tight. “There were repeated payments made under a shell company. Monthly transfers. High amount.”Evelyn’s pulse quickened. “To where?” she demanded.“A private facility,” he replied. Papers shuffled faintly in the background. “One called ShadeNight Asylum.”Her stomach dropped.“Are you sure?” she asked, already reaching for her jacket.“Positive,” Paulo confirmed. “It’s discreet. Isolated. Expensive. And get this—most of the payments were marked under ‘long-term psychiatric containment.’”Micah was already watching her closely, reading her face.“ShadeNight Asylum,” she said, turning to Micah after the like went dead. “That’s where the money’s going.”Micah’s eyes darkened. “Location?”She checked her phone as the message came in. Her jaw tightened. “About forty minutes from here. On the outskirts.
Evelyn’s fingers tightened around her phone.She forced a small smile “I’ll be right back,” she said softly, putting her phone back into her pocket.The air outside was dry and sharp against her skin. By the time she stepped into his hiding place, her high heels scraped against the sandy floor. The building looked like an abandoned storage shed for harvested crops. Wooden crates were stacked to the side, overflowing with tomatoes, peppers, and dusty potatoes. Baskets of oranges and plantains were shoved into corners. The walls were cracked, the paint peeling in thin curls. The only decent thing was the cemented floor, though it was still coated with a thin layer of sand.Her brows pulled together.Where does he even sleep?There was no bed. No mattress. Not even a proper chair. Just sacks of grain piled against one wall and an old wooden table with one uneven leg.She wrapped her arms around herself, unease creeping into her chest.The door creaked open.She turned quickly.Micah step
Before Eveyln could step out of the car, parked in front of the company, her phone buzzed with an incoming call, it was John.“Hey babe, checked the news?” he asked casually, his tone annoyingly light.Eveyln frowned, pulling up the headlines, her heart skipping as she read the breaking news: Darwin had been arrested. Shock rippled through her, she had thought it would be nearly impossible for him to be caught… or was this another of Giovanni’s schemes?Charges for drugs, sex trafficking, embezzlement, even Pack law manipulation filled the article. Eveyln let out a short, bitter scoff, her hand tightening on the car door as she swallowed her disbelief, then pushed herself out of the car, heels clicking sharply against the pavement as she strode toward the company, mind racing with suspicion and anger.The next text pinged on her phone, and she couldn’t help but scoff again. “It was my doing, don’t think it’s any Giovanni’s plot, okay?” It was from John, casual as ever, but Eveyln’s ja
Winnie looked at her in confusion, her brows pulling together, “you didn’t know about that?” she asked, then nodded slowly like something had just clicked in her head, lifting her glass to take a slow sip of her juice.“Well, now you do,” she added calmly as she set it down, her fingers tapping the side of the glass, “because it happened before you arrived at the Nightshade Pack, and trust me, it wasn’t a funny situation back then,”Eveyln leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing as a new thought crossed her mind, “so the person who brought all this up about Giovanni,” she asked carefully, “where is he now?”Winnie scoffed, a short, humorless sound, her lips curling in disdain, “of course he ran away,” she said, waving her hand dismissively, “probably changed his name by now and is hiding in another Pack, because I’d do the same if I tried to ruin someone’s image for money,” her eyes hardened, voice dropping, “maybe he forgot who he was up against”“Do you have any idea what he loo
Eveyln stood before the grave, her knees weak, her chest burning as tears slid down her cheeks, not loud, not dramatic, just quiet and unstoppable, the kind that came from wounds that never healed, her gaze lifting only once to Giovanni, and the sight of him almost made her choke, the way his face was carved into grief, the way his eyes glistened as though he had truly loved the woman he buried, the same woman he had killed with his own hands, the hypocrisy tasted bitter on her tongue, sharp and unforgiving.Black clothes swallowed the crowd like a sea of mourning, heads bowed, shoulders slumped, sniffles and quiet sobs filling the air, Winnie stood beside her, fingers twisted in the fabric of her dress, crying openly, her shoulders shaking with each breath, and Eveyln tried to focus on anything but Giovanni, but her eyes betrayed her, drifting back to him again, searching, hoping, foolishly, that he would do one right thing, that he would bring his mother out of the cage where he had
EVEYLN“But it seems like I’m the bad guy here,” Giovanni muttered, slicing into his pancake and popping a bite into his mouth.I rolled my eyes, not bothering to respond.“Why did you even call us here?” I asked, folding my arms as Simone leaned back in his chair, a smug grin tugging at his lips.
GIOVANNI"What the hell do you mean you haven’t seen Carlo yet?" I barked.The warriors stood stiffly before me, heads bowed, eyes glued to the floor.This mess had been haunting my nights, keeping sleep just out of reach. Half a week had passed before I even learned he was the one who took the led
EVEYLN“Why is he even part of this conversation?” I asked, glancing at John.He kept his eyes on the road, his voice low. “Because something’s off.”We were talking about Carlo’s disappearance as we drove to the company for the scheduled meeting.Once we arrived, John parked the car in the lot. Th
JOHN"All of a sudden?"Romaine put his glass down on the table, narrowing his eyes at me."Well, yeah," I said, trying to sound relaxed. "If Wonder Pack and Silvermoon Pack work together, isn’t that a good thing?"Romaine gave a dry laugh and leaned back in his chair."There’s more to this, isn’t







